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Order type: Case StudySubject: Law
It is a question and answer style, there is no need for referencing.Question 1XYZ University has commenced negotiations for a collective agreement with its academic staff and the National Tertiary Education Union has initiated a bargaining period. The union appears to have obtained some support from employees to take industrial action if the University does not agree to the union’s claim for a 5% pay rise. Advise the University:a. about any procedural steps under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) which must be followed by the union before taking industrial action; (5 marks)b. why it should register an agreement under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) once it has negotiated an outcome with the union; (5 marks)c. what steps it must take to obtain approval of the agreement by employees; (5 marks)d. what requirements it must meet to obtain Fair Work Commission approval of the agreement. (5 marks)20 marksMaximum word length for question 1 – 1,500 wordsQuestion 2Megan is a solicitor employed by Caulfield Lawyers, a suburban law firm which offers its clients a range of legal services including conveyancing, family law and employment law. During the four years of her employment in the practice, Megan has worked three days per week to allow her to look after her young children. In fact, it was the firm’s family friendly work conditions which prompted her to seek work there in the first place. The firm’s letterhead states that it is an “equal opportunity employer” and the firm’s intranet and policy manual states that it promotes family friendly work practices.In the last 6 months, Megan has noticed that she is increasingly being allocated “low fee” matters, such as small conveyances, wills of little old ladies who wish to chat for hours and guilty pleads for minor criminal matters. This has negatively affected her ability to meet her budget.At her performance review, the Managing Partner, Lewis Linton, explains to Megan that she is failing to meet her budget. He says that unless she manages to meet her budget for the next month, she will be required to increase her hours to full-time in order to increase her earnings for the firm. Megan explains to Lewis her concerns about the allocation of files in the practice. Lewis admits that part-time solicitors are sometimes allocated low-fee matters because the work is more routine and less time sensitive. He concedes that this may result in lower billings but says that she must nevertheless meet her budget or move to full-time employment. Megan points out that she has never had any complaints from clients about her ability to meet their needs and that, until six months ago, she had taken on the same types of files as full-time solicitors. She also notes that one of the older partners also works three days per week in order to go sailing on Fridays. There is no evidence that he is being allocated low-fee matters as a result.Lewis responds by asking Megan out to dinner. Megan is taken aback and says that she does not have time to socialise outside business hours because of her family commitments. Lewis says that he would be happy to pay for a babysitter in order to have the opportunity for some intimate time with her. He then says with a wink that perhaps during the dinner they could discuss changes that could be made to the system of allocation of files.Megan blushes and returns to her work. She mentions her embarrassment to one of the female senior partners at the firm, but is told just to ignore Lewis, as he “is really quite harmless”. For the next four weeks, she ignores many requests from Lewis to go out for drinks. Over this period, she is allocated fewer and fewer files and all the files she is given are low-fee matters. At the end of this period, she receives a formal memo from Lewis informing her that she must commence full-time employment or resign. Megan resigns.Advise Megan whether she is likely to succeed with the following claims under equal opportunity legislation:a. A sexual harassment claim against Lewis. ?Maximum word length – 500 words10 marksb. A direct and/or indirect discrimination claim against Lewis. ?Maximum word length – 500words10 marksQuestion 3Andrew drives a shuttle bus for Monash University between Caulfield and Clayton. He is a patient man. He enjoys all the chatter, the music, the crowding and the occasional student running late to get on the bus. He drives carefully and does not get provoked when other drivers cut him off on Dandenong Road. He is willing to work various shifts according to the needs of the roster. Andrew has been working for Monash for ten years. Previously he was an interstate truck driver.Andrew’s girlfriend leaves him for another man. He is depressed. He falls into a habit of playing country and western music at home and drinking a lot of beer. He becomes quiet and reserved at work. One weekend he is caught in a police breathalyser with a blood alcohol reading of .055. He is lucky not to lose his licence.Monash has a workplace policy requiring drivers to report any driving offences like this. When Andrew reports his offence, his supervisor says that he will have to undertake counseling if he wants to keep his job. Monash takes a total approachh to risk management and employs professional services to help deal with problems. Andrew says: ‘I don’t really think it is your business to direct me to have counseling regarding my private life. I am very sorry about the driving offence and I will not be offending again, certainly not on the job.’ The supervisor says he must cooperate. Andrew’s attendance with the counselor soon falls away and, when this is relayed to Monash, he is dismissed without notice.Andrew wants to take legal action against his dismissal. Ideally, he wants to stay in his job, but if that is not possible, he would like to obtain financial compensation.Does Andrew have a case that his dismissal was wrongful under the common law or unfair dismissal under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)? Would his case be weakened if Monash had a workplace policy on its website that authorised supervisors to refer employees to counseling?Maximum word length – 1,300 words20 marks
